


4-methyloctane

by waspfactor



Series: fractional distillation [3]
Category: Assassination Classroom
Genre: Angst, Child Neglect, Dysfunctional Family, Hospitals, Implied/Referenced Suicide, Injury, Melancholy
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2021-02-04
Updated: 2021-02-04
Packaged: 2021-03-16 02:20:03
Rating: Not Rated
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 824
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/29199738
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/waspfactor/pseuds/waspfactor
Summary: karma wakes up and almost immediately wishes he'd stayed asleep.[set between nonane and decane]
Relationships: Akabane Karma & Akabane Karma's Parents
Series: fractional distillation [3]
Series URL: https://archiveofourown.org/series/2093277
Comments: 4
Kudos: 34





	4-methyloctane

**Author's Note:**

> [this wont make sense unless you read viscosity first](https://archiveofourown.org/works/28110792/chapters/68875347)
> 
> cant even lie to you jabronis, most of the fractional distillation series is just gonna be karma's pov lmao
> 
> [i wrote this listening to this!](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=60uAqCzcQao)

When Karma opens his eyes again, he is not by the riverbank, he is not in his house and he is not in school. He awakes to the sight of his parents. No Asano in sight.

Suddenly the dull pain in his wrist seems unimportant.

“What.” He croaks out, voice rough from disuse, face already twisting into a scowl, for if he had a list of ‘people I never want to see’, his parents would rank joint first with each other.

His mother’s blank stare pierces through him. She looks even paler than usual, most the colour in her face having been washed away. “You’re in the hospital.”

And the award for Captain Obvious goes to…. “I know that,” He rolls his eyes as he shuffles upwards on the bed. “Why are you here?” Karma asks straight out. It’s been a while since he’s seen them but he’s more than ready to wave them goodbye again.

It’s his father’s turn to speak, as he indicates by folding his arms over his chest and by furrowing his brow. “We’re your parents.”

And the award for Captain Obvious 2: Electric Boogaloo goes to… “Hardly.” Karma scoffs, looking away. The window in his room shows that it’s night time. They’re his parents in the same way water is wet; yeah, _technically._

“They say you tried to kill yourself.”

That’s not the whole truth but it’s futile to fight it, for the words will land on deaf ears. “Well, I’m not dead,” And what a relief it is to say that. “You can go away.” With his good hand, he waves dismissively. He alive, they can go now.

“Kichirou,” His mother starts and Karma’s stomach coils itself into knots because if he had known it was going to be one of _those_ visits, he would’ve let the river’s current sweep him away. “Your father and I feel like we need to have a talk. About your future.”

She’s speaking in Russian, probably in attempt to make Karma speak Russian back and that annoys Karma more than anything. He hasn’t spoke the language in a while and translating it in his head takes time. It makes him feel like a child again. “No,” He answers in Japanese as he shakes his head. “We don’t.” He doesn’t want to have any sort of talk with them, especially not concerning _his_ life.

His father seems unimpressed. “You’re almost sixteen,” He lectures, as if Karma’s not aware of how old he is. “It’s about time you started thinking about what you’re going to do with your life.”

The painkillers Karma’s on hazes his mind, like a fog that’s too dense to see through and too heavy to lift. The word future bounces around like a ping pong ball on steroids. “I know what I’m going to do.” He argues back but the fire inside of him is weak, a dim flame in the dark.

His father shakes his head in disapproval. “Clearly not, if you’re throwing yourself off bridges with strangers.”

Karma’s throat tightens. “Asano’s not-“ He attempts to sit more upwards in his bed, but he forgets about his wrist and accidentally tries to put weight on it. “ _Fuck!_ ” He hisses.

“You’re hurt,” His mother’s voice is small; she’s trying to be empathetic, trying to be _kind._ It doesn’t work. “You need looking after until you’re in better shape.”

She reaches out a hand, presumably to stroke Karma’s face but he swats it away. “Hypocrite,” He seethes through clenched teeth. “Don’t act like you care now.” Because they never cared when he was 5; why should they care when he’s 15? He’s long accustomed to them _not_ caring and he can’t afford this new development. If Asano were here, he’d likely accuse Karma of being afraid of change and Karma doesn’t know if he’d be able to refute that.

His mother recoils from him, holding her hand as if she’s just been scandalised. There’s a brief flash of hurt on her face before she recollects herself, golden eyes steely and sharp. She gets to her feet and turns to her husband. She, again, speaks in Russian but faster this time, probably in an attempt to shut Karma out of the conversation.

“I’m going to speak to the doctor.” Is all she says before drifting out the room, like a ghost.

His father stays behind, still rooted in the cheap plastic hospital seat. With the cold look in his eyes, he looks like he’s at a meeting, rather than seeing his injured child in the hospital. “Your mother does care for you.” Is all he says, all while keeping his gaze steady on Karma.

Karma doesn’t have the energy to refute how untrue that is (or point out how his father never said ‘I care for you’) and instead, decides to slink away into the hospital duvet, hoping that when he opens his eyes again, he’ll wake up from this horrible dream.

**Author's Note:**

> [tumblr](https://wasp-factor.tumblr.com/) and [twitter](https://twitter.com/waspfactor) :))
> 
> my fav trope when writing the akabanes is just making elizaveta trying to make karma speak russian n karma's like Absolutely Not


End file.
